1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a recording apparatus and method for recording each content file to a recording medium, and particularly to a recording apparatus and method for generating an index file for each content file to be recorded to a recording medium, the index file associating attribute information allocated to each content file with real data of each content file, and recording this index file to the recording medium.
This application claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-054314, filed on Feb. 28, 2003, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer or PDA (personal digital assistant), a non-linearly accessible hard disk and various recording media such as an optical disc, magneto-optical disc and memory card are loaded and data is recorded to these media. There has also been proposed a recording/reproducing apparatus provided with functions of reproducing and editing recorded data by adding a display unit such as a liquid crystal display panel and an audio generator unit such as a speaker to such a recording apparatus.
In this recording/reproducing apparatus, a user can designate a desired file to select data to be an object of the above-described reproduction and editing. This designation of a file may also be realized on the basis of a file name inputted via a user interface. Recently, there has also been proposed a recording apparatus and recording method that enables, in the case of recording various files, output of excerpt information of each file and easy search for desired data based on this excerpt information (see, for example, Patent Reference 1).
In this recording apparatus and recording method, desired file search is realized by using Quick Time as application software, then generating, as the above-described excerpt information, an index file collectively holding parts of video data and/or audio data of plural files recorded on a disc-shaped recording medium, and recording the index file at a predetermined position on the disc-shaped recording medium. This index file can be prepared, for example, in the format of a Quick Time file.
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary index file prepared by using a Quick Time file. This index file includes a movie resource part in which data for reference to the time necessary for reproducing the file and real data is stored, and a movie data part in which real data such as video and audio data are stored. The movie resource part includes tracks corresponding to four types of data, that is, a property track 62, a text track 63, a thumbnail picture track 64, and an introduction music track 65. The movie data part includes four types of real data, that is, property, text, thumbnail picture, and introduction music.
The property track 62 is defined as a chunk according to property data corresponding to each content file. The text track 63 is provided for registering text data such as the title or the like of each content file to be an object of search. The registered text data is stored as real data in the movie data part, and the data length and start time of the title or the like of each content file are represented by this text track 63.
The thumbnail picture track 64 can register one thumbnail per content file to be an object of search. The registered thumbnail picture is stored as real data in the movie data part, and the data length and start position of the thumbnail picture of each content file are represented by this thumbnail picture track 64. The introduction music track 65 can register one introduction part of audio data per content file to be an object of search. The registered introduction music is stored as real data in the movie data part, and the data length and start position of the introduction music of each content file are represented by the introduction music track 65.
Patent Reference: JP-A-2001-84705
Meanwhile, in such an index file, the real data of property, text, thumbnail and introduction music are sequentially stored in an area called entry of the above-described movie data part.
However, in a recording medium on which this index file is recorded, as addition and deletion of entries themselves and addition and deletion of real data recorded in the individual entries are repeated, the physical area in which the index file is recorded is fragmented. Therefore, an optical pickup must be sequentially moved over such fragment areas and the seek time or the like increases. Moreover, as the number of entries increases, the reading time of the index time significantly increases. Particularly in a recording apparatus in which a recording medium of a low access speed is loaded, it is difficult to realize smooth reading operation.